Have you wished there was an educational product out there - one you could add your child's pic to, that would help him/her get better at reading ? See Me Read is a product aimed at helping early readers succeed. After seeing her success from working with her own son - Lori Albert Luke , worked with childhood literacy expert Lynette Frentte to create the See Me ReadTM kit, a program that features personalized whole-word learning tools.

When you go to the See Me Read site , you
have 3 options, or kits, to choose from.
The largest kit is the complete kit.
You have the option to "Buy now,create
later" or "create now".

When you create your personalized kit,

You will be asked to choose 24 words out

of 39 words - the words are people,

objects, animals or places(such as dad,

or bathroom) . You will then be instructed

to take pictures of your child or upload

pictures you already have, that match

the what each word

describes (such as a picture of Ella stand-

ing in"Ella's room " or "Ella's cat"). These

are the words your child will be learning

to spell and read.

If you have selected the full kit you will also

need to fill out a questionnaire because the

Reading Book Level 2 has more advanced

sentences that need to be personalized to

fit your child's kit.

This process will take anywhere from

45 minutes to an hour. So prepare to have

some time freed up if you will be ordering

this complete kit.

The selected kit will then be shipped out and you

should receive it via USPS in 2 weeks.

Product Pros:

Flash cards are large and heavily laminated, and are put on a jump ring - this is great because I know with my kids they loose anything cards related, having these cards on a ring ends having to pull them from every which corner and crevice in our house months after the fact.

The Labels, Flash Cards, Reading Books 1 & 2 are all written in large print , and are not to busy or distracting, making for kids friendly reading.

This kit integrates learning to read into your child's environment so everything your child is reading about is familiar and welcoming - there is no instance for your child to feel overwhelmed by being in a strange environment, so the learning is natural and at your child's own pace - SO much so that your child will wake up wanting to learn more.

By using your own child's name and pictures on these tools, this encourages your kids to embrace themselves in a new light - one that will boost self esteem and confidence

The kit is designed with pre-school and kindergarten curriculum in mind

This kit is easy to use, and your child will practically teach him/herself.

The included notebook has exercises to stimulate your child's creativity and fine motor skills by encouraging your child not only to read the object but to also draw the objects she/he has been learning to spell out.

Product Cons:

The parent guide mentions putting the labels on the object they are describing (such as a dresser), at your child's eye level to encourage them to read wherever they are and learn through association. But I can't help but wish the labels were laminated like the flash cards.

Hint: If you purchase the kit I would recommend you take the labels into Kinko's to get them laminated - especially if you will be using with younger siblings later on.

Conclusion:

The See Me Read Kit Complete is an excellent tool to help get your little one on the right track to reading regularly. I would definitely recommend it.

25 June 2008

I am excited to review 2 wonderful children's books that are geared at readying your little ones for Kindergarten and First Grade. My daughter will be entering kindergarten this Fall, and these books couldn't have come at a better time.

Both books are paperback, with thicker than average paperback pages - that are laminated! What a great feature, this allows you to let your children, or even their younger siblings handle the book without worrying too much about the book getting torn.

These books aren't just work at home books - they teach the curriculum that is found in your child's kindergarten and firstgrade classrooms.

Mrs. Good , the books fictional teacher guides you and your little reader through the skills needed to prepare your child for her kindergarten class: telling time, recognizing money, making a calendar, colors and shapes, body parts, counting to 100, learning 5 senses, rhyming words, opposites, seasons and much more.

From reading, to recognizing money, to learning which hand is left or right , the fictional classmates in the book show your child learning IS fun. My daughter was begging me to teach her with this book.

The illustrations are very lively and fun. With great colors to keep little ones interest on each page you share.

This book not only will give you the tools and confidence to teach your child in an engaging, age appropriate way - But will also give you tips on how to ready your child for school days, and coach her on classroom issues such as bullying.

Mrs. Best, the books fictional teacher, and fictional classmates, will help you teach your child important academic milestones to learn for first grade : Writing full name & number, recognizing upper and lower case letters that out out of sequence, adding & subtraction, numbers 1-30, counting to 100, recognizing patterns, skip counting by 5s, 10s to 100, know money and value, reading basic sentences, under standing weather and so much more.

The illustrations are still fun and inviting, but are much more detailed in this book, sure to interest more motivated first graders.

Lets Get Ready For First Grade! really details first grade classwork. You will feel right at home teaching and following along with the book.There are also tips for fostering self esteem and proper ways to handle sensitive issues.

Overall Let's Get Ready Series are great books that will having you wondering why you didn't find them sooner. Your children will enjoy having the time spent with you and learning the cool skills in these books. I highly recommend them!

As an eczema sufferer and a very allergy prone person, I am always weary of trying new lotions or creams - afraid of the onslaught of terrible itching a wrong ingredient will send my skin reeling from. Most of the time I loath even "sensitive skin" formulas because they usually cause even more irritation.

But I was pleasantly surprised when opening Screen Inc. The lotion was very lightly scented with a tropical smell. There are no heavy perfumes or chemical smells.

When I applied the lotion - my eczema was not even affected a little. I didn't get any hives or itchiness. This is pretty big considering my history with lotions and allergies.

A little of the Tween Screen went a long way to cover a larger area. The sunscreen when applied to skin was very light, and there was no greasiness whatsoever. The sunscreen went on smoothly and absorbed quickly into the skin - it didn't need to be worked in and massaged diligently like some major brand sunscreens.

Plus there are allot of botanical ingredients I felt were nice to see when going through the list of ingredients. Screen Inc. Sunscreens are all made in the USA.

Tween Screen is geared toward daily use on the face. It has a SPF of 16+. That SPF is pretty standard for facial sunscreens.

Higher SPFs are available and are recommended - but that day I forgot my sunscreen and this was handy in my purse.

Overall I felt this would be a sunscreen I could be comfortable recommending - especially for people with extremely sensitive skin - who are prone to eczema , and for tweens who are at that stage when they are just approaching puberty - this will not clog pores, or feel to greasy on their skin - and if has a very pleasant scent.

Screen Inc. Also has other sunscreen products such as Man screen, Chick Screen (for us women folk) and Teen Screen (for the active teen). You can even purchase the screen in bulk.

22 June 2008

O.k, hopefully you haven't seen this yet? I just found this while searching for baking related diggs. I love music and beatbox and baking --- this dude combines all three of my favorites...o.k AND improve! He is in an apron and has a kitchenaide in front of him. Part Monthy Python , part Martha, part B-BoyyZ.

A must see! The incredibly original and talented beatboxer Beardyman presents a hilarious routine where he "bakes" a beatbox routine from the different sound "ingredients" he has in his repertoire. Amazing, incredible, and all those digg-worthy adjectives!

09 June 2008

Readers have left some great comments lately and I wanted to give thanks - In appreciation I will post some of them here, and continue to do it as a regular feature of the best comments every 2 weeks.

I am sorry I haven't kept up with my comments, I have been sick and the kids have been sick and we are dealing with a lot of personal stuff right now.

I wanted to thank you for taking the time to comment, so I have linked to your sites/profiles under your comments quotes. If you post and use a blogger profile - please make sure your blogger profile is enabled for public viewing, some of yours weren't - so I couldn't visit your sites.

Reader Comment Carnival

"These are some really high quality pictures, I especially like the one of the oil mixed with water on the ground."

"This is really great, I love the way you decorated the plate! I almost thought it was painted on :). BTW, I read your about section and I can completely relate :D!!! I have a BA in English (have a poetry blog too!), currently work as a food blogger, and plan on attending culinary school in the near future (only thing is, I can't decide if I want to be a pastry chef or a savory chef :D).

"I wouldn't worry so much about getting the "right" picture on the blog. For me, a REAL plate with a meal on it is often better than all these "leaning tower of Piza" creations that no one in their right mind would create at home on a thursday night.

Your writing is excellent, and i would love to see what you are creating.

Anyone can make a Mignon taste decent, those that can make something good for less than $10 are the real chefs."

Thanks soo much for contributing. And keep it up - read my posts and share your thoughts, your comment just might make it into a future Renaissance Culinaire's Reader Comment Carnival. It doesn't matter if you comment on newer or older posts - I will post according to the dates the comments were submitted.

08 June 2008

Apparently I have been Schmapped! Well I just checked my flickr mail and look what was inside:

Hi Amber,

I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the second edition of our Schmap Northwest Guide, to be published at the end of this month.

Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can:
i) See which of your photos has been short-listed.
ii) Submit or withdraw your photo from our final selection phase.
iii) Learn how we credit photos in our Schmap Guides.
iv) Browse the first edition of our Schmap Northwest Guide.

While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.

Wow, that's kind of cool. My Northwest Flavor is traveling the web :) This is a picture of the Fremont Bridge in Portland, OR.
The Fremont Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge over the Willamette River located in Portland, Oregon. It carries Interstate 405 and US 30 traffic between downtown and North Portland where it intersects with I-5. It has the longest main span of any bridge in Oregon and is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world (after Caiyuanba Bridge across the Yangtze River, China).[1]
The bridge was named for John Charles Frémont, though one of the connecting streets was previously named Fremont Street in honor of the same individual.
The bridge has two decks carrying vehicular traffic, each with four lanes. The upper deck is signed westbound on US 30 and southbound on I-405. The lower deck is signed eastbound on US 30 and northbound on I-405. - facts Via Wikipedia

This photo was taken with my little point and shoot 3mp. It was raining and stormy when I took it - I kind of manipulated it a bit with contrast which made it grainy and added some deeper concentration of color. It is best viewed larger.

07 June 2008

Do you value fast service? Most people would answer this question with a resounding yes. In an age when convenience is king, customer service sometimes gets left at the wayside. But apparently not at izzyprints.com. They will ready your invites within 2-3 days and ship them to you as fast as possible. If you find an error or have a problem with your order - they will go above and beyond to help rectify it and make sure your needs have been met.

Here is one of their baby shower designs:Click on the above image to view the product page.

On reviewing the website, I was pleasantly surprised at the layout. This site is customer very customer friendly.There are no itty bitty fonts, or hidden links - everything is within your view. The navigation is straightforward and logical, with all their products linked via text link, under six specific holidays or celebration categories in the right sidebar, or on the horizontal drop down menu below the header. The site search and customer service number are well defined at the top of the page.

Everywhere you look there is a navigation link - so forget about getting lost in a sea of webpages. Kudos for the website's usability.

The graphics are not drab. Images are easy on the eyes, and not over done. When you click on an item link, the product page layout is great. All the info you could possibly need about an invitation is right there in an organized format. Their are no cluttered links or images to distract your attention - just an image of the invitation design it's self.

This is a site I would recommend to anyone based on user friendliness alone - so grannies get your glasses, you will feel technologically uplifted when ordering this years Holiday seasons greetings.

The prices are reasonable and the card designs are really cute. Izzyprints.com present their product well and seem to regard their businesses reputation, as well as the customer's satisfaction very highly.

From the Site:

Izzyprints is dedicated to bringing you a quality
service at affordable prices, while ensuring fast
turnaround times. We strive to make your life
easier by simplifying the online design and
print process while allowing you to share your
memories with the world around you.

Uncommonly Cute is an infant and toddler clothing e-store run by a husband & Wife team hailing from New York. They pride themselves on cute & cool apparel that is unique, which expresses your baby's individual personality. I am especially enamored with the site because they support two great causes :R Baby Foundation (proceeds of 50% from this page go directly to R Baby Foundation) and Room To Grow. It is great when businesses give back to their community or country.

...Got A Bun
In your tum?
...soon to arriveFreshly Baked?
Get this tee for your New Arrival.

This website is what the name implies.
A fabulous line of newborn, baby onsies and toddler
tees, that will make you smile. Baby clothes come
in size newborn - 2T. In a choice of gender
specific colors.

I especially liked the newborn onsie that has
"freshly baked" across the chest. For a baker
such as myself, not only is it funny but very cute.

Many a joke has been had at a pregnant
girl's expense referencing her "bun in the
oven". This simple statement is both endearing
and laughable. Your child is an Artisan made
creation, after all. Celebrate your handy work!

And for the geek in you - why not
check out this "famous on facebook"
tee, Deck your child out in some Social
Networking vanity goodness.

And for those political types, infant and toddler tees & onsies that say "I'm a Democrat" or "I'm a Republican". 2008 is an Election Year after all , babies may not talk - but they sure can scream and what is better than a screamer ? A screamer who supports his or her political party! Aww the magic moments of parenting.

To see the above tees and more...Visit the website to view all the baby goodness.